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Is there an unsaid rule that bar cookies have to be heavy and gooey? Two weeks ago, we picked up a cup of coffee on our way to the park so that the little monkey could continue his path of destruction outside our apartment, and I fell for something in the bakery case called peach shortbread, cut into bars. But instead of being thick and intense, it was delicate, light and barely sweet — a thin layer of shortbread, even thinner slices of peach and the faintest sprinkling of streusel on top. I knew I had to share it.

And it wasn’t until I had jotted down “peach streusel bar” on my to-do list that I remembered a recipe for brown butter peach bars from that I found in a preview of The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook in The New York Times nearly three years ago, and have pined for since. (This recipe didn’t make it into the cookbook, but a rhubarb version — that looked almost as time-consuming and delicious — did.) Every summer, I swear, I’m going to summon the energy to make them. First, you make a peach jam from fresh peaches. It involves a candy thermometer. It takes an hour to cook. Then you brown butter and freeze it until solid. Then you make a crumb base with this butter, bake it for 20 minutes and let it cool. Then you make a custard filling with fresh vanilla bean, and brown more butter. This filling is spread over the baked crust, the peach jam is dolloped over that, and you bake it for 30 minutes more. I have no doubt that nirvana ensues, in fact, a reader recently told me that she tried them and they were absolutely worth it. But I got tired just typing this paragraph and I realized it was time for me to admit that it might not be worth it to me, especially since so much of time right now is spent doing things like this.

Besides, the easiest fruit cookie bar on earth is already in these archives. I played around with it a bit: I browned the butter, in homage to that recipe I’m never going to make, added a faint whiff of spices and messed with the proportions a little, putting more crumb on the bottom and just a sprinkle on top. You won’t believe how thin and light a shortbread bar can be, and yet with more flavor than something twice as thick and gooey. And you won’t believe how little time — even with the brown butter step — this takes and how fitting that makes them for a weekend that you’d rather spend soaking up the last of summer.

I browned the butter when I made these bars and for once, I felt I could actually taste it in the final cookie (when so often it gets buried under other ingredients). By that measurement, it is absolutely worth it. Still, you can make it with straight-up non-browned butter if you are pressed for time. Simply cut softened butter into the flour (instead of frozen brown butter) and increase the flour by two tablespoons, bringing it to three full cups of flour.

Note: Your base will look a hairline thicker than mine because I, uh, lost some crumbs. Onto the floor. I don’t want to talk about it.

I cut mine into 24 2 x 2 1/2-ish squares. You can halve this and bake it in a 8 x 8 pan instead.

Brown your butter: Melt butter in a small/medium saucepan over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Keep your eyes on it; it burns very quickly after it browns and the very second that you turn around to do something else. Set it in the freezer until solid (about 30 minutes).

[Don’t have time for all this brown butter madness? Check the head notes to use regular softened butter instead.]

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter a 9×13 inch pan, or spray it with a nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, baking powder, flour, salt and spices with a whisk. Use a pastry blender, fork or your fingertips, blend the solidified brown butter and egg into the flour mixture. It will be crumbly. Pat 3/4 of the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan, pressing firmly. Tile peach slices over crumb base in a single layer. Scatter remaining crumbs evenly over peaches and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until top is slightly brown and you can see a little color around the edges. Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares.

Keeping: I’ve kept mine in the fridge and they’ve held up great there since Monday. I imagine that these would freeze well, between layers of waxed paper, with the container sealed well in plastic wr

the bars are beautiful, almost look like there is some very thinly sliced plums in there {hum, I think I might try that} along with the peaches. (?1 large egg)???too much? not enough? I agree, we must savor every ray of sunshine!

if i wasn’t already being commissioned to use our peaches to make your peach cupcakes with brown sugar frosting for a family gathering this weekend, i would make these. they look so fantastic! and if someone who has the added duty of keeping the toilet paper roll looking guest-appropriate has the time to make them, i’m sure i can find some too.

Whoa. I’m usually not big on peaches, but you just knocked my socks off. That first photo made have converted me. And I’m a crust girl, so anything with shortbread AND crumble topping is right up my alley!

Deb, you’re delicious summer infused creations are making me green with envy that I live in Edmonton Alberta, where it rains for weeks straight. Do i want you to stop? God no! I need it:) Thanks for allowing me to live vicariously, lol.

I’m interested about peach skin. It looks like you left it on, which I like when it is cooked enough, but it always seems to have a texture that my huband hates. What is the deal with peach skin? Is it polarizing in any house other than mine?

I’ve been picking up on blogs more frequently the idea of browning butter, but have yet to try it. It sounds like this step is well worth a try. I really like how thin, crumbly and delicate this shortbraed looks.

You had me at “browned butter”–and even more so because this looks so easy (I’m an enthusiastic but slightly lazy baker : ).

You mentioned you can halve this recipe, which I’d love to do. In that case what do you recommend doing with the egg? I usually beat it and then kind of eyeball half…or use not quite all of a medium egg…but curious if anyone has another technique…

Nina — Good point. You can whisk very well and measure 1.5 tablespoons from a large egg or you can just try using the yolk, where the richness is. You might come up a little dry but it should be okay.

Updated: I like Karen’s suggestion, a few comments down: There’s also no harm in using the whole egg in a dough like this. I doubt it would make it very sticky, since it is quite crumbly to begin with. Thanks Karen!

lifeandkitchen — The peach slices are 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick and the skins are impossible to notice… not like they’d be in big chunks in a pie or cobbler. Of course you can peel the peaches first but against the crunch of shortbread, I’d be impressed if they bothered someone!

Your description of the Big Sur Cookbook recipe reminds me a lot of a recipe my mom has made for years – and it may not be nirvana, but it’s fairly quick and awfully delicious. She calls it a peach kuchen, but instead of a cake-y concoction, it’s actually a shortbread base, topped with sliced peaches and then a layer of sweetened yoghurt, spiked with some vanilla and with an egg beaten into it.

Now, I’m definitely going to give peach kuchen a try with a browned butter shortbread base – but I’m certainly going to be trying your recipe as is very, very soon too!

Looks delicious! I check your blog all the time, and told I had just typed “peach dessert” into the Google search bar. The peaches sitting in my fruit bowl will look lovely in these bars. Thanks for reading my mind!

I *had* been completely content to let those peaches on the counter get eaten up just as they were, but noooo, here you come with your delicious propensity to turn perfectly good pieces of fruit into something utterly sinful. And you know I mean that in the best of ways. ‘Cause guess what’s in the oven right now? Ahem.

So pretty looking as always here but I’m not really a peach fan (which might be surprising if you knew I live in Atlanta) so I was thinking pear would be nice in this recipe. Or blueberries as Victoria suggests.

I’ve always wondered – how to halve a recipe that calls for an odd number of eggs? 1 egg? 3 eggs? I usually just beat the number of eggs called for in the original amount, then approximate half and save the rest. Is there a better way?

Will definitely be making this tomorrow. @Nina, for 1/2 egg I will briefly beat it and use about 2 t and then freeze the other half. I do that every time I make the blueberry crumble bars and it works great. But eyeballing works too. :) Sometimes rather than freezing it I’ll add 1/2 c peanut butter and 1/2 c sugar for a quickie PB cookie for kid’s lunches.

To everyone–I’ve frequently done what Deb suggested about just using the yolk. You could even add 1 tsp of water (as the whites have more water), if you’re worried about it being dry. Yolks tend to make things a little denser and chewier, which I like, frankly.

AND: on adjusting recipes using browned butter! I actually thought about this for a long time. Because I made brownies once with brown butter, and they just weren’t as moist as they usually are. I just went to the USDA Nutrient Database (this is a very useful website, by the way) and found that 1 Tb of butter has 2.55 grams of water. And because I am crazy, I remember from physics that 1 tsp water = 5 grams. When you brown butter, you lose all the water: that’s where the loss in volume (and/or loss in moisture) comes from. Now, I just add it back in! For 1 stick of butter, add back 4 tsp of water. Usually, I’ll just add 1 Tb plus a little extra because it’s easier.

Oh man. That seals it. I am now completely and totally smitten with your kitchen!!! This shortbread knocks any other shortbread I’ve ever imagined right out of the ballpark. These look just sensational!

Okay, so these are FABULOUS! I only made one change: I added toasted chopped pecans to the top crumble bits, and they were the perfect addition! Thanks for another wonderful recipe! BTW, I use my Canon DSLR to take pictures of all my culinary triumphs as well, but my pictures are definitely inferior to yours… I think it’s time to get a new flash and lens :)

And you’re psychic too–? That’s the only way you could’ve known I got the biggest most wonderful looking organic peaches today at the store (and they were on sale at one of our Florida-trash-tastic discount grocery stores, but they rival anything I’ve seen in Whole Foods and half the price). So thanks for this your timing could not be better!
And totally let Jacob run wild with the tp. The pics you’ll get are worth it!

just made this recipe and OH MY. suuuper delicious. i halved the recipe so that i don’t eat the whole thing :)
mine ended up a tiny bit too crumbly, probably because i only had self-rising flour. (at least i’m assuming that’s what my problem was.) OR it could have been due to using half an egg. although the texture was a teenie bit off, the taste was not sacrificed.
thanks deb for this deliciousss recipe.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever made an SK recipe the day it was posted. I am now, though — but with damson plums instead of peaches. It goes into the oven in a few minutes. I have shakshuka bubbling away on the stove at the moment, too, so it’s a happy, smitten night for me and mine.

I am a peach fanatic and these look really good and I love the color of them. I love Big Sur and am sad we didn’t have time to stop at the bakery the last time we drove through. I have heard the cookbook is great but still need to check it out. . .so many cookbooks, so little time.

Ah, you have hit the button right on the nose once again. These are JUST what I need for my labor day party this weekend as a sweet ending for dinner. Thanks so much for sharing, I am thinking of making a version with those beautiful pluots that are in the farmers markets now… or maybe just peaches since they are totally awesome.

Oh my goodness! I just picked up some peaches today that were going into a gingery peach crumble so now I’m torn – maybe will have to do both. This looks a bit like the base from my lemon squares which I morphed into an apple bar with struesel topping because I had one somewhere which inspired mine – these look so delish! (and just wait until Jacob can run with the TP – can you say rolls of crumpled TP?….or maybe that was just my boy!)

ok, so I just made these and they’re so yummy! They’re a good combination of chewy and crunchy. For anyone curious, I halved the recipe and used a whole egg, as suggested by Karen. First time browning butter too, and I’m hooked! Maybe it’s just me, but these fellas are begging for some vanilla ice cream… Thanks for the recipe, Deb! :)

I made these bars with four black plums I already had on hand, and they are wonderful! It was extremely difficult to pack them up to take to work tomorrow. I scarfed down two almost right out of the oven… and before dinner!

My shortbread seemed like it would be too dry and fragile, but it turned out absolutely fine. I did throw the 1-2 Tbsp of juice in the bottom of my sliced plum bowl into the topping portion to make it stick together a bit more. The extra juice didn’t harm a thing.

I bought a punnet of plums on a whim yesterday and then remembered no one in this house actually likes plums in their natural state – I think I could apply them to this! Plums, brown butter, shortbread, cinnamon… I’m definitely nudging my way towards autumn.

hi deb: do you think castleton plums (the dark smaller purple ones, also called prune plums / castlefranco) would also work? they’re not as juicy / dense as other summer varietals. these just scream for other stone fruits. thanks.

Deb, about the crumbs falling on the floor- you wrote that you don’t want to talk to talk about it… typo or a saying I don’t know about. Your blog writing is always so well done, don’t want a mistake if there is one!

Tim — Very helpful, thanks! Interestingly, the both this and the last time I browned butter, I put it back in a glass measuring cup when I was done to assess the volume loss and both times, saw nothing more than a hairline. I had expected more! But that sounds in line with 4 teaspoons, tops.

I love that thin peachy layer that’s the color of a sunset. No, you are absolutely right, cookie bars do not have to be dense and heavy! I love how light and delicate this looks–it definitely entices you to EAT MORE!

Hi – new here…just wanted to say that I love your blog and everything I’ve made has come out phenomenal. Also – I grew up in brooklyn with a very tiny kitchen so I can relate. These look fantastic! Do you think adding ground ginger would work?

Any chance this recipe would hold up if it had no egg in it? My son is allergic to eggs so I’m always on the lookout for baked goods with no eggs in them. Traditionally shortbread does not contain eggs, so maybe this recipe might also hold up without an egg? Or would it be possible to use the traditional egg substitutes e.g. half a banana or some applesauce?

For eggless cooking: Have you tried the egg replacers out there? Or the 3 T. water to 1 rounded T. flaxmeal per one egg substitute? I’m going to experiment with gluten-free flours! I have two nectarines that are begging to be shortbread! I hope you try this ‘your’ way and post another comment! AND: Thank you Tim! I just love these little tidbits of kitchen knowledge!

Tim #65…Thank you for the browned butter fix. I figured the texture problems I’ve had when adapting recipes to use browned butter had to do with the loss of water, I just didn’t do the research to figure out how much. This is a great help.

Going to the farmers mkt this morning and will grab some peaches for this reicpe. It looks like a winner. It’s been hit and miss with the peaches here this late in the season. I’ve been disappointed by an occasional mealy peach. It really gripes me when that happens!

Just in time for peach season in the Pacific Northwest! I’m so glad to have this recipe. Every time I hear the shortbread word with fruit attached to it, I shudder unless it’s got the additive “dried” preceding. It’s good to see a shortbread that’s light, and hasn’t been reduced to a gooey mess. Again, thanks for sharing.

These look wonderful. On the toilet paper front, try reversing it, so that the end comes out against the wall. It’s much harder to figure out how to unroll the paper when you have to push the roll up instead of down. (Until he learns to grab the end and run, of course.)

I made this last night and modified it just very very slightly. I discovered that I apparently don’t have a 13×9 pan (how does that happen?!), so I split it into 2 8×8 glass dishes. Gives it very slightly more square inches to cover. If I split it again (which is very likely, because these are so delicious I might have to make them again very very soon), I would probably add one more peach to help cover the additional surface area.

Also, before I sprinkled the reserved crumble on top, I mixed in a little less than 1/2 cup brown sugar, not packed. Gave it just a little more sweetness, and I think crumble topping is always better with brown sugar in it!

Ok i have a bunch of peaches sitting on my counter right now, if i don’t do something with them today they will go back, this recipe is perfect. THANK YOU! I am off to the kitchen and will report back!

I have a peach cobbler sitting home waiting for me to eat it, but now I don’t even want it, I want this instead… I think I’ll try it with nectarines since I’ve got 3 5-gallon buckets of them waiting to meet their final destination.

Can I just tell you that the very best thing I love about this blog is how aware of the season’s fruits it’s made me. When I read this I thought, of course! How gorgoeous were all those nectarine and peach piles at the bodega today! Perfection!

I’m trying to cut back on sugar a tiny bit (I just feel crappy when I eat it.) Any ideas on how to adjust this recipe so it uses less sugar? I’m not into all these sugar substitutes like splenda and stevia and agave. I just like reducing sugar in most of my baking and am wondering how others might suggest I do it with this recipe. Do I have to add more or less of something else?

I was in the middle of trying to rip out a very stubborn tile floor and getting totally exasperated with it, when I took a break and read your e-mail with this recipe in it. I had to bake them there and then! I only had nectarines in my fruit bowl so used those instead and also took somebody else’s idea of spreading a little seedless raspberry jam over the base and underneath the nectarines. My goodness, these are absolutely delicious and don’t think they will last very long! How therapeutic it was too – am ready to get back and destroy my tile floor now!! Thank you.

Thanks for the wonderful recipe Deb. I made the Peach Shortbread this afternoon and they were DELICIOUS! You were right, the crust is so light and delicate. My husband loves them :) I l’ll be making them with apples instead of peaches tomorrow to bring to a party. Can’t wait to try them with another fruit.

I just made these and they are deeeeevine. All I had was salted butter, and I can taste the difference. It doesn’t really bother me though- it’s kind of that wonderful sweet/salty mixture. I did brown the butter, and it made my house smell delicious. (Watch it close!) I think browing the butter is worth the time- just do that first and mix everything else while it cools. Thanks Deb!

Hi Deb – Question for you. Every week, I purchase loads of peaches from the farmstand, and between my three hungry daughters and running around with them, I never get around to baking the dozens of peach recipes that I have in my files. Can I slice and freeze them to be used when my little darlings go back to school next week?

This sounds amazing and I am very keen to try! Am a bit confused about the butter instructions though – if I make it with normal butter, do I use 1 cup + 2 tablespoons, or 2 cups? (ie: how can adding an extra couple tablespoons bring the butter volume up to 2 cups?)
Thanks so much for all the inspiration I get from this site – can’t wait for the book to be published!

So after i saw this recipe today and since i had a bunch of peaches sitting on my counter i went back to the kitchen and made this shortbread, i love it. I did the butter browning and they turned out great. I think mine could have used a little more flour but they were still very tasty and i will use this recipe again. Thanks again! If you want to see a picture here they are: http://www.facebook.com/delishhh

I just made these with peaches from our tree (not as pretty as yours, but very delicious!). They were a huge hit with the whole family! I would never have thought of this scrumptious shortbread/cobbler combination. Thanks! This is the second recipe of yours I’ve dared to recreate, and they both turned out amazing.

I made these today but only had salted butter–usually making the substitution and leaving out the salt from the recipe works out perfectly fine, but in this case, they were a little salty, which makes sense in retrospect given how high the ratio of butter to flour is for shortbread.

Still totally delish–I had never browned that much butter before, so that was interesting. But anyways, I sliced my peaches slightly thicker than yours and used 1/3rd whole wheat flour. To quote my roommate, “This is the best thing I have ever eaten.” (She was a little drunk, though.) I can always count on Smitten! Now I need to figure out what I’m going to do with my last 2 peaches….

Oh, and by the way, you can totally cut them warm; it’s only slightly messier. And they’re soooooo yummy with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum.

Just wanted to chime in and say the brown butter bars from the Big Sur cookbook are the best dessert I’ve ever made. EVER. Deb’s description is accurate, there are a lot of steps… But the chance to eat two different layers of browned butter confections with jam in between is not something you should pass up! I would venture to say that each step if fairly simple. Its a bit like making bread, small steps with some waiting in between! :)

I have just put these in the oven but my mix is seriously off somehow. It’s more like a gingerbread dough not crumb at all! Smells amazing but I have no clue if it will be edible. What have I done wrong? Much be the measurements maybe I’m not awake yet!

Looking over this recipe and other recent sweets, Deb, I’ve realized what a terrific source your recipes are for those of us who are really put off by too-sweet baked goods and sweets. More sugar does not a better treat make. Thanks for crusading for us.

By the way, my damson plum shortbread was excellent. My boyfriend and I wiped out the half-batch-in-a-round-eight-inch-pan in less than 24 hours!

This looks like the perfect thing to make when you’ve had a few birthdays celebrations and a couple dinners out and is already loaded with chocolate and sugar. And they look very very pretty too! Should definitely add this to my list of to-bakes. Thanks :)

Another time saving option is to not wait for the browned butter to harden and just mix everything together a la the Alice Medrich twice baked shortbread recipe on this site. You even reduce the number of bowls that need to be cleaned. I also added a pinch– maybe 1/16th of a teaspoon of white pepper to balance the sweet.

So, my friend brought in peaches yesterday and I had just seen this recipe so I convinced him to very kindly give me two of them. These are fantastic. Mine didn’t come out quite as pretty as yours did. I had never browned butter before, so I didn’t know to take out the little slightly burnt milkfat flecks so mine have little black specks in them, but they taste so delicious. I love the hint of nutmeg with the peach. Just perfect.

Yum! This was delicious! Although you may have been on to something with the “lost” crumbs because I think next time I will add a another small pan to the project to stretch the shortbread and make it thinner. I felt like I wanted to taste more peach per bite. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!

peach shortbreads just finished cooling…i sampled & they are superior!
i am so glad that i browned the butter as per your suggestion…i cut into
3 (lengthwise) logs & am going to freeze & serve for the jewish holiday.
i truly enjoyed baking this recipe…thanks…
& i hope you are enjoying the w/e!!

Deb,
I just made these (with the brown butter [my favorite] and they’re cooling right now. I couldn’t wait, so i just ate one. Absolutely delicious! Thank you for the recipe. :)
I made one slight addition. I went to the Union Sq. Farmer’s Market earlier today and bought raspberries, so I added one raspberry to each peach slice.
Yum. Summer fruit.
Oh, and if you like them, honeycrisp apples are in! (I wait all year for these. :)

These are awesome! Was too lazy to go the brown butter route-but will next time! Love that they aren’t too sweet. I cut the recipe in half so we wouldn’t do too much damage..and good thing. They’ll be gone after breakfast in the morning.

Made these today with brown butter and nectarines. Had 2 nectarines. Needed one more. Had to substitute some jam for the last bit in the pan. SUPER YUMMY. And super easy. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks! (Will blog about it next week.)

Thanks for an awesome recipe – made them tonight, and they were a definite success with vanilla ice cream! I’ve been following your blog since around march, but this is the first recipe i’ve attempted – it won’t be my last!!

I made these. They LOOKED lovely. A little too rich and one dimensional for my family’s taste. The bars definitely needed a high note. Rhubarb would have been the perfect variation. Maybe a little lemon on the peaches would help. Not even my son likes these. Sadly, to the bin…

I made these the other night and they are fantastic! I’ve ate WAY too many. The browned butter is essential. It makes the shortbread taste wonderful! I can’t imagine that Caron said they were “one dimensional”. Wow, I LOVED the flavors. Great recipe, it would be awesome with differnet fruit! Thanks!

Greetings from Norway, Deb! Tried my hand at this today, and it turned out absolutely delicious! I didn´t have any peaches, so I used plums instead (approx. 10 of them). The plums were slightly tart, which really went well with the shortbread. Yum!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I can practically taste these yummy bars! So so good looking – but your baby – that face in the bathroom with the toidy paper is KILLING ME! So so cute! What are the 1st birthday CAKE plans?! Hope you share with us all!

Made these a few days ago – so, so good and super easy. I skipped the brown butter step cuz I was feeling lazy. Next time (tomorrow!) I make these I won’t slice the peaches so thin. I guess I took the “slice thin” instruction too seriously. I think a more substantial slice would have been a bit better – but believe me, these cookies are really good no matter how you slice them!

I just made these. Delicious. I used salted butter (browned) and added an extra tablespoon of sugar to make up for the salt. I think I may have sliced my peaches a little too thin as well, but wonderful, regardless. I may try this with plums next week. A great recipe.

Obnoxiously delicious. I made the night before and then just baked this morning. We ate far too much and then gave the rest away at the party we attended this evening. RAVE reviews. Once again, you made me look good!

Just made these today for a labor day party and they were a big hit! :) I can see some other commenters mentioned they thought they sliced their peaches too thin; on the other side, I was worried I sliced mine too thick, but they were fabulous, and I think a little too thick probably gives better taste than a little too thin.

For those worried about egg substitution: I just made a 1/2 batch…and accidentally forgot the egg. They are still very tasty and shortbread-like (perhaps more so without the egg), so I wouldn’t worry about coming up with a substitute.

Greetings from Nanjing. Did this recipe today using local peaches, which are spotty in flavor. Good news is that we followed instructions on the butter (New Zealand stuff, lovely). All hands declare this dish a winner. My secretary, having been i the office kitchen when I have baked cookies before, asked about the lack of eggs….OOPS! We had to disassemble everything and re-do with an added egg.

I’m new to cooking and clueless about seasonal fruits and veggies. Your site is the BEST! Thank you Deb! Went to Union Square farmers market this weekend and made these last night. Used a whole egg for half the recipe (um….on purpose?…yeah, that’s it) and they came out DELISH. Am thinking of using preserves to make these over the winter. Maybe with some rehydrated dry cherries.

These were good. I only wish I’d drop some of the flour mixture on the floor however. My pan was a little small (maybe 8 by 12 ish?) and bars weren’t as thin as your pictures. I also wished they were more peachy. I think I took your instructions “thinly sliced” too much to heart. Next time I might try slightly thicker slices of peach, a thiner base crust, and maybe layering another layer of peaches between another layer of crumbles. The brown butter was great though. So toasty!

Made these last night. I agree with the last comment about a thinner base and adding more peaches (plums and peaches sounds delish too). The brown butter was amazing. Thanks for another easy, awesome recipe :)

My friend and I tried these last night – they were delicious!! Having trolled the comments for extra advice, we added a little moisture back to make up for the (ohmygoshamazing) browned butter’s reduction in moisture – it was good, but I think the extra moisture meant it took longer to set after we took it after the oven. We also added a little bit of lemon juice to the peaches – it probably would’ve been delicious anyway, but who doesn’t love a little bit of lemon juice?

I made this recipe just yesterday!! It was so quick and easy, but I managed to screw it up a few times! I used a KitchenAid to mix the dough – what a mess that made! Flour mixture all over the mixer and the counter and the floor. Woops. Think I could cream the butter (I didn’t brown it, not enough time) and the egg first and gradually add the flour mixture?
The peaches I got were not ripe at all, so I had to resort to canned. I rinsed them pretty well under water to get all the syrup off so it was just peaches.
It turned out great! Had some for breakfast this morning with my coffee! This recipe is sticking around for a while – I’d like to try it with blueberries and maybe a cinnamon-y apple mixture too. Thanks for keeping me inspired in the kitchen! I love your site!

Of the many baking successes I’ve had due to Smitten Kitchen, this may be my favorite! And what wonderful timing on your part…I used some end-of-the-summer peaches and made these for a Labor Day picnic. I love the subtle cinnamon and nutmeg.

I may have to make another batch or two to freeze for the fall! Thanks again for the great recipe.

Mine are in the oven and I’m just beginning to smell them. Heaven! I noticed in your photo of the bars in the pan that your pan appears to be lined with wax paper or parchment, but that wasn’t in the directions. Does that help getting the bars out of the pan?

I’m an ardent fan and have made way too many of your recipes to count. I have never been disappointed!

Made these today and they are fantastic! Although I’m sure this would be great without the browning the butter, that nutty-butterscotch-y goodness really makes this recipe exceptional- I would not skip that step.

I like Cathy Cole’s lemon curd substitution. It will come in handy for when peaches are no longer in season.

I made these gems yesterday for a succulent summer send-off bbq (NC-style pulled pork, baked mac & cheese, kale, biscuits, home brewed peach and apple cider). I added a drizzle of lemon juice over the peaches before the streusel went on. Delicious and simple. Definitely whip some cream or break out the vanilla ice cream to go with them, to strike the perfect balance of crumbly-sweet and creamy-smooth.

Oh wow. I follow a lot of food blogs and have an endless list of recipes bookmarked, but I’ve never wanted to get into the kitchen and bake something immediately so badly!! These look amazing — I’m a sucker for shortbread and peaches!

Just made these for a brunch in the park and they were a hit! Perfectly light and barely sweet-a great combo with our sangria! I switched the peaches with white nectarines and the toughness of the fruit made it a little denser but still perfect.

These were great! Made them yesterday for a party and they were a hit! My only substitution was salted butter because it was all I had. Btw, Lauren’s comment (#165) is cracking me up! Too funny! Maybe that was why everyone liked my bars yesterday too! HA!

I tried browning butter for the first time for this recipe and somehow it did not seem to work. It foamed but did not turn brown and still smelled like butter. Should I have turned the heat more on? Or how long is this supposed to take? I cooked mine for 15 minutes at least. Maybe you could post a step-by-step tutorial sometime?
The shortbread turned out delicious all the same :)

Made these over the long weekend and loved them! Super easy. My mom was keeping me company while I was making them and she deeply doubted how they would turn out since there was not liquid in the recipe…well, she ate her words :) I would say that I will def bake these in a metal pan next time (as opposed to a glass one) as the bottom got a little to brown and crunchy.

tried these on the weekend. suspect my pan was a bit small, because my base:peach ratio was too high. I also used 3 peaches because our ontario peaches are a bit small, but i probably could have used 4.

i had the same trouble as Anne (#250) with the butter browning process. i assume in my case at least that this had to do with the size of the pan used.

Anne and Maggie — I find that some butter foams more than others. Cooking it on low will take a little bit more time but it definitely foams less. The foam isn’t a bad thing, it just makes it hard to see how brown the butter is getting. Cook it a few minutes longer next time, until it gets toasty. Eventually, it always does. And it’s wonderful.

Judy — Good catch. Honestly, I was just being paranoid. Everything’s easier to do when you line a pan with parchment but they come out either way.

Chaja — I need to try it soon. It’s supposed to be fantastic and if shares their light hand on the sugar, I’m all for it.

Brilliant! I could eat my weight in shortbread, so this one will be on next weekend’s to-do list. I was wondering what you think of trying apricots? We don’t have any here now, but maybe next season. For some reason the shortbread/apricot combination is singing to me.

Thanks all for the ideas on 1/2ing an egg! Have been wondering what others do.

I made them! Of course I (sorta) burned the butter in spite of your warning. I think that I cut the peaches too thin because I could hardly taste them, even though they were really good peaches. My family could taste them.

My husband wants me to stop reading your blog, what with the best brownies anyone has ever eaten (marbled brownies), the pudding, and now the peach shortbread. (Can you tell that we mostly focus on the sweets?) My daughter is on a first name basis with you. (“Did you see what Deb posted…”)
We ate them warm (OK hot, they sliced just fine) and always laugh at how many servings YOU can get from a batch. ( 2″ square? yeah right)

I love love love these! and so do my co-workers (baked them a batch the other day) I’m a total newbie in the kitchen and your recipes are opening a whole new world of possibilities for me =) Thank you!

Super yummy! I made these but forgot the egg – didn’t seem to alter the taste or texture. I will say that these must be kept in the fridge as the butter in the crumble on top began melting when sitting on the counter. Thanks for another wonderful recipe!

I made these yesterday. They were in the oven before I realized I had totally forgotten the egg. But..they turned out fine, only a little crumbly. The family loved them, even Mr. I Don’t Like Peaches ate them. Now the remainder of the pan is taunting me from the refrigerator, daring me not to eat them.

A caution on this recipe. Taste your peaches ahead of time. Mine looked beautiful but were not sweet at all. Some fruits are supposed to be tart but don’t think peaches are among them. It still worked but had I known I might have put a different (sweeter) topping on them. Maybe something with brown sugar.

Lovely recipe, although I agree with some earlier comments that the peach flavor got a little bit lost. Next time, I’d double the peaches. I’d also make sure to peel them – some of the peach skin was a little tough. Still doesn’t hold a candle to those delicious blueberry bars, though!!

I made these last night with some peaches that I got from a local farmers market. I’m on Weight Watchers, so I switched out the regular butter for light butter, the egg for egg substitue, etc. They came out AMAZING! I brought some in for my coworkers today (mainly so that I wouldn’t sit at home and eat the entire pan) and everyone loved them, and didn’t even mind the healthy substitutions. :-) I actually used 3 peaches, as I cut mine a little thicker…I think I’d add even more peach slices the next time. Or maybe use a bigger pan so that the shortbread is a little bit thinner.

Thanks so much for this recipe! I grabbed some white peaches from our farmers market down the street and whipped it up for our Labor Day BBQ dessert. It was fantastic, but man I had no idea how long it took to brown butter. Like, loooong. But I got out of mopping the floor because I told my husband you specifically said in the recipe do not leave it alone. So thanks for that, too :) We finished them off for breakfast this morning and I can’t wait to make them again.

Delicious!!! These did not last long in my home!!! Of course I did NOT half the recipe, I wanted left overs, but, no such luck! Loved the shortbread and peach combo!!! Have to make these again before my season runs out!!

I would love to hear how your frozen brown butter looked out of the freezer. In mine the brown part sank and less than 1/4 of the butter was brown. Does that mean I should have let it brown a little more? What does yours look like?

PS. It turned out wonderful anyway! I love that a lot of your recipes are pretty much foolproof!

I used three nectarines for mine. They were great. We and our neighbors loved them. By the next day the shortbread got soft and the fruit got a bit gummy so I advise you eat them up the day they are baked. I didn’t bother trying to re-crisp in the oven because there wasn’t much left over.

This is sooooo good! I made it last night with my three-year old and did not quite know what to expect when I pulled it together–it seemed too easy and like there were not enough peaches–but it was delicious and perfect. Oh, and I didn’t even brown the butter.

These are baking in the oven right now! My dough was a bit more sandy than crumbly but I adore shortbread so I know I’ll be eating it either way. Thanks for coming up with these wonderful recipes for us!

I made this recipe the day I printed it. My hubby is gluten/soy intolerant so I made it with my own mix of gluten-free flours and some nice colorado peaches. It turned our beautifully and the hubby said it tasted just like shortbread should! I’m going to try making it a chocolate shortbread with berries next! Thank you!

Made this today for a Jewish New Year’s party. They were great, and as pretty as yours. I did peel my peaches, and also instead of the 9 x 13 pan, I used a stoneware 10 x 10. The temp and time were exactly the same. The shortbread bars were sweet without being too sweet, and the peach (I used one large) gave it a nice tart/sweet flavor. Will definitely add my to my list of favorites. May try raspberries next.

What do I do after 12 hours at work? Bake. Of course. For the first week the temp is below 80 at night in Chicago. I made this with gluten free flour as my mom is coming to visit from NY tomorrow (quick, clean the kitchen!) and she is gluten-intolerant. I’ve made a zillion gluten-free recipes due to this… and tonight I threw in some sweet dough emulsion which also has xantham gum in it. I have to say, it turned out pretty good. Really, I’d say it’s basically “normal” which is a HUGE complement from a non-gluten eater that grew up in a gluten-free household. :)

These are not safe in my house. Or else I’m not safe in my house when these are around. I can’t stop eating them! Yum!
I was doubtful as to whether or not the crust would come together, but it really did!
Thanks Deb!

so I didn’t have any peaches, but luckily had some frozen stewed rhubarb from earlier in the summer. I added the zest and juice from one orange, and it turned out great! I definitely agree that browning the butter is worth it. can’t wait to try it with peaches too – thanks for sharing :)

I have been looking for a recipe that I could take to the state fair this year. I can not wait to try these. I think that they will be a big hit because they are so light. This looks like a great recipe. I hope that it will be a success.

I bookmarked this page as soon as it was posted and finally got around to baking them yesterday. OH MY GOD they are delicious! Seriously, I could almost eat the whole pan by myself, and by “almost” I actually mean “totally”.

I will admit to a few tiny modifications: I couldn’t resist and added a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract along with the egg! A shortbread without vanilla always makes me sad. Also, I cheated and used my food processor! The frozen brown butter was so hard, I was having a difficult time cutting it into the flour mixture, so I just threw it in the food processor and pulsed until the butter was worked in. I took it back out of the processor at that point and added the egg/vanilla by hand. I ended up having to add a couple tablespoons of ice water at the end to get the dough to come together (kind of like a pie crust, really) – not as a sticky ball, but just so that I could take a handfull of the the stuff and smoosh it together and make it stay that way.

Anyway, just wanted to thank you again for a fantastic recipe! Also, for the record, they make an excellent addition to one’s breakfast. :-)

Absolutely wonderful! I used peaches from my mom’s tree in Colorado! It took longer for the butter to brown than I’d thought it would (was my first time to try this) and it gave off a wonderful caramel aroma. My coworkers really enjoyed this treat! (We’ve been calling it a peach crumble though.)

I made these last night for friends and really enjoyed them. Nixed the nutmeg and added 1 1/2 tsp vanilla instead. I doubled the recipe (we had four 20-year-old single guys over) and it took *forever* to brown the butter, but I’m pretty sure it was worth it. I wish my peaches had been a little more flavorful – I think I’ll try a different variety next time. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!

I made these and they rocked! You could definitely taste that brown butter. I used 3 peaches instead of two, and next time I will use four. They weren’t too juicy and could stand up to even more peachy goodness

I browned the butter and it is a must. Rich, nutty crust paired with light, sweet peaches. It’s perfect. The only problem I found is that I had too much leftover crumble and put quite a lot of it on the top. It never browned enough on top and I had to scrape off some of the crumble. Next time I will use the bare minimum crumble on top to get more peach flavor. Definitely a keeper!

Delicious! I picked up some fresh peaches from Fredericksburg, TX and used 4 of them because they were a little small. I will definitely be making these again and am looking forward to trying the grape focaccia!

I just made these at work today (I’m a preschool teacher) and we had them for afternoon snack. They went together so quickly (even with browning the butter) and we had all the items on hand at school, including lots of peaches left over from the hot lunch program. My class loved them (and so did the teachers). I can’t wait to try this recipe again with the bounty of raspberries I’m getting from my CSA.

i’m a first time visitor here (my cousin made a delicious looking cheesecake that got me poking around), and I just made these with mango fresh from the tree. I put in 3 mangos, and I think it could have used a fourth. I think I also overdid the nutmeg a bit, but given the lack of measuring spoons at home it’s a little difficult to get just 1/8 tsp :) I also used half salted butter, and left out the salt, and it was too my liking, and only put in 2/3 c. sugar. All in all, they’re delicious and I’ll definitely be making them again.

I made these as the last hurrah from the peaches from our tree. Amazing! I took them to a meeting to share, so I didn’t just sit and eat the whole pan. Trying to come up with an excuse to make more. Soooo good!

I’ve made these twice already! First time over the weekend with some amazing peaches from the market. Everyone loved them. Then, tonight, I made them using the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture from your pop-tarts recipe. I’ve been playing around with a shortbread recipe in my head that would recreate those sandies cookies with the cinnamon swirl – I remember them as a kid, but can’t find them in the store anywhere! Anyway – they came out great – I did a half recipe but used a whole egg, since I was worried it would be a little dry w/out the fruit (it still is, but still yummy, regardless). Next time I think I might combine the two – brown-sugar cinnamon layer underneath the peaches – yum!

Thanks for the great website – I enjoy reading your posts and browsing through your great recipes. I loved the taste of this shortbread (I have never made shortBREAD before, just shortCAKES – is there technically a difference?), though I think I overcooked mine waiting for it to “brown” as it seems a little dry. Also, (like a few others that I saw) would add more peaches next time around. They are definately yummy!

I swapped about half of the butter for plain applesauce, which I mixed into a somewhat cooled browned butter before popping it into the freezer to solidify. They turned out great! The applesauce swap (due to a butter shortage in the house) is probably a good thing calorie wise too!

What a delicious-looking treat! Unfortunately, I had no fresh peaches (boo!), but I did have some apples that I’ve been meaning to use, so I decided that apple shortbread would be just fine.
I tossed the chopped apples with the cinnamon and nutmeg (instead of adding the spices to the dough), along with a little brown sugar, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and some flour, then layered the apples in place of the peaches and baked accordingly.

It was completely yummy – buttery, light, and totally addictive. And talk about a flexible recipe! I’d like to try this using whole cranberries (perhaps rolled in sugar), or make it with a cheesecake layer instead of fruit. And mmmm… pears….

I made these for my duaghter’s 4th birthday party. We threw and Alice in Wonderland Tea Party and they were perfect! The children loved them along with the blueberry bars (I substituted raspberries in the BB bars because BB’s are out of season). They were all a hit! Not one bar was left!

Just made these this weekend and they are sooooo very delicious. I’m not sure whether my butter was truly browned because I kept getting so nervous that I was going to burn it, but they came out amazing all the same. My boyfriend made me get them out of the house so he didn’t eat them all, so I brought them to work where they were devoured by my coworkers in 10 minutes. Thank you for yet another delcious recipe!

These were really really great. I too had quite a time getting the frozen brown butter cut in. I chopped it pretty small to start and eventually made it happen with a pastry cutter thingy – whatever that’s called. A nice treat that I will defintely make again!! Thanks!

Made a Nectarine version in honor of my daughters 31st birthday..she lives half the state of Kansas away but I thought it was a good excuse as any to make something neither Dad or me are supposed to be eating. I used 1C. oats made into oat flour in the food processor, 1 C. whole wheat flour then poured the browned butter over these flours and stuck the bowl in the freezer for @20min. Then I used the muscle of the food processor to mix in the 3/4 C.flour and the rest. I also did 1/2 brown sugar and added 1t. vanilla. YUMMY!!!!!!!

It didn’t work out with peaches for me, I think they might have been a bit too ripe… They kinda vanished while baking and al that was left was some kind of gum(-that-once-might-have-been-a-peach)
Buuuuut it works perfectly with canned fruits, I used mandarins and cherries. You may want to bake it 10minutes longer, otherwise it’ll loose its crunchiness ^^

Just made this tonight – it made my whole house smell peachy deelish. I really liked it, but i think more more more peaches are in order! Several layers of peaches would make it nice and juicy. Thanks for another great treat!

Fantastic blog – I love catching up on it and all the eye candy you post with your gorgeous pictures!

I have a question about pie crusts – which is not what this post was about, but I’ve been studying up and still have trouble with one aspect – BLIND BAKING!!!! ah, so scary. i always weigh line the dough with foil and then weigh it down with rice or beans or cans of heavy tomatoes. However, the crust always shrinks on me, collapsing into the center of my pie dish. I try rescuing it half way through the cooking time, but usually not a lot can be done. What is the best, most foolproof way to blind bake a crust. And, when should I blind bake it? If I’m putting a crust on the top of the pie, do I need to blind bake the bottom? If i don’t blind bake the bottom crust, will the bottom crust be soggy when I serve it?

Awesome recipe, I’d definitely keep the peach slices on the thinner side. I just made this last night and my family loved it, but i think i’d have gotten more mileage out of the peaches by going with thinner slices. next time…

I made this last weekend and it was really good. By the next day, though, it had gotten gummy and not so appealing. I still had a lot of peaches left so I fixed them up like you would for a pie or cobbler and crumbled leftover shortbread over the top and baked it. OMG! I swear it was the best crumble top fruit cobbler ever.

These are amazing!! Not only does my entire house now smell of brown butter (yummmmm) but the finished product is awesome. Just enough peach flavor, just enough brown butter flavor, perfect sweetness, yum, yum, yum! Peaches are my absolute favorite fruit and I usually find it hard to do anything but eat them whole (or sliced raw on yogurt or ice cream) but my peaches were huge (late-season peaches here in Maryland get like that, apparently) so they were starting to spoil just under their own weight and you came to the rescue. Thank you!!

I made these last night and are absolutely awesome…they will now be in my regular rotation for good! Can’t wait to try it with other fruit as well. If anyone is thinking about skipping the brown butter step – don’t do it!! In my opinion it is what makes the recipe special. Thank you Deb!

Well, I made these last night and they are awesome. I informed my picky hubby at dinner tonight he might want to save some room for them. He walked by me with half of one in his hand going, mmmmmm
My friend came over for lunch today and she went on and on about them too. These are just wonderful!

I really liked this dish primarily because of the brown butter! I think that Deb was absolutely right that it does shine through in this recipe – and it really wasn’t much extra effort.

I think the few changes that I would make for next time are more fruit (by the second day, I had a very thin line of peaches, and the taste was much more about the crust than the fruit – this might be a good thing for winter, frozen fruit, but in the summer I want to taste it!) and baking time – I baked this for almost 15 minutes longer than the recipe suggested! I did just move last month, though, and am not fully acquainted with my new oven, so it could be me.

well, it’s official, you’ve got my man hooked on these…..he started buying 2 peaches at a time and not eating them himself…..today’s his birthday, so i’m on my way to brown some butter and get started! YUM!

I made these yesterday and they turned out great! i added some ginger and put a little bit more of the cinnamon and nutmeg and it definitely handled it well. I topped it with some whipped cream and it was to die for.

I made these last night and was a little disappointed in how dry they were- however I know that it is my fault. I have been trying to use whole wheat flour in all my cooking and baking and have found that it does leave some baked goods rather dry. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to avoid this or fix this…use less flour…cut with all purpose flour…more liquid?

This is the month of celebration in some countries throughout the world.
And sweets –delicious foods are most important things for this.
i cant control my greedy tongue after seeing this products, i’ll definitely take some of them asap..

Made these for my dad’s birthday last weekend — they were a huge hit, though the chef ate a large portion himself… :X Also gave the recipe to my sister for an event at work on Friday and everyone loved them. Now that it’s getting into apple season, I can’t wait to try this with apples! Easy, delicious dessert… The brown butter takes a little time but you can taste the result and it’s pretty divine.

These were delicious and I made them with plain butter. Although as another commenter mentioned, I would use a bigger pan or do a thicker layer of peaches to get more peach flavor next time, and there will be a next time! I had to bring the rest to work to share so I didn’t eat the whole pan!

Ahhh! These are incredible. I [sadly] had a funeral to go to this past weekend, and there were so many people coming the family asked everyone to bring something to eat. I made these – and they were gone in seconds. I doubled the recipe and made it in a half sheet pan – they came out great.

So, I made these last night also for my girl, who is coming over for a date tonight. I thought….yummmm…peach shortbread. Came out perfect so I thought I had better give it a little taste test. YOWWW! I fell on my bum out of pure delight…I called the local police to restrain me so that there would be some left for tonight. They gave me a warning and threatened a ticket…and that’s all it took! Silly tinytim. Thank you for the recipe!

Great recipe!!! Everyone LOVED it and sooo easy to make!! I had to hide the left overs everyone wanted more, but I did not want to share LOL!!! SOO good!! and so enjoying your site and wonderful recipes finds!!!

I have now made these twice and have gotten huge compliments! Two things I did a bit differently: I used nectarines instead of peaches and I used the food processor to mix the flour mixture with the butter (then take out and mix the egg in by hand). A great recipe!

I made these with peaches the first time and I was sad as they dodn’t have much peach flavor. I just made them again with fresh raspberries and OH MY GOODNESS, so so wonderful. I think I will try blueberries next time. I really do think the browned butter makes a difference, such a wonderful nutty scent and flavor.

I just made these today. I did a half batch and used a nectarine because I didn’t have peaches.
I browned the butter and I think it was worth the extra step! The base was so rich-tasting. I’m fighting with myself to keep out of the kitchen. I’ve eaten 2 of 12 and I’d better stop now! The smell when they were baking was heavenly.

Since shortbread is one of my very favorite things, I have now made three or four different recipes with a shortbread crust and this is my favorite. By large margin. One probably very silly question though… With the blueberry bars, you used cold butter, but here (if you’re short on time and don’t brown the butter, which I was and didn’t) you use softened butter. What difference does that make in the texture of the bar? Every time I’ve made shortbread with very cold butter, it seems that it has come out a bit *too* crisp.

Actually, I cannot remember my logic at all! Cold butter would make more sense. In fact, in general, I’d guess that cold butter would make a softer cookie and softened butter a hard one. My rationale is that, as in pie crusts, those cold bits only melt once they hit the oven, and create spaces and even flaky layers. If you use softened butter, it will incorporate long before it hits the oven.

Just made a third—or was it a fourth? Hard to keep track!—batch of these babies and, not being peach season any longer, made them with thin slices of bartlett pear. In a word—fabulous! This recipe is one that will appear and reappear on our table countless times in different seasons. I freeze them individually in wax paper inside a freezer bag, just as you suggest, Deb, and we LOVE them! Thanks for this recipe in particular and for all the inspiration!

I made these a little over a week ago, and while I thoroughly enjoyed them (apart from the peach flavor being a little too subtle; I should’ve added some jam like I originally wanted), I did notice that they were the exact opposite of the light and delicate flavor/texture I was promised. Still thoroughly enjoyed, but just as thick and heavy as I would expect an average shortbread to be. Any idea as to why that is? (I more or less followed the recipe to the letter.)

hi, deb. i made this recipe when you first posted it with a mix of peaches and blueberries and loved it. but i remember someone way up in the comments mentioned swapping the peaches for apples, so i held on to that idea until apple season. other than using diced apples instead of peaches and possibly increasing the nutmeg and cinnamon, can you think of anything else i should change? i know that you only made the recipe the way it is posted above, but i am sure that your educated guess would be more educated than mine.
thanks for any advice you give. i love your site.

i am perverting these to the gooey side… as a base for pumpkin pie. ohhhh yea. the plan is to par bake the bottom, for maybe 5 min, then put in a batch of pie filling, crumb the top and bake lower until the filling is set. wish me luck.

Special thanks for now using the converted measurements in ingredients – my cooking of your recipes used to start with “googleing” measurement converters (we, Western Europeans are not that good with US-metric systems :) )

I’ve made these twice – both times using homemade peach preserves in lieu of fresh peaches. The first time I browned the butter, the second I didn’t because I was pressed for time. Browning the butter elevates these from very good to mind-blowing. It is absolutely worth it. Perhaps with fresh fruit, the difference wouldn’t be as great? I’m not sure I’ll find out – I’ll use browned from now on!

I’ve made these twice and both times have gotten RAVES about them. I actually had people pleading with me to make this winter but I’ve been making them wait until peaches are back in season. The second time I sliced the peaches more thickly than instructed and those were the clear favorites. I don’t think I’ve quite mastered the art of browning butter (I’m always scared to burn it so I think I always take it off a bit too soon) but I’m working on it. Thanks for a great recipe!

Delicious! I didn’t have any peaches handy, so I used a layer of strawberry slices instead and we ate it with fresh whipped cream. And they were so easy, even with browning the butter (I’d suggest never skipping that step…it doesn’t take that long and the kick of flavor is so worth it).

I had a last-minute potluck to bake for, and these were perfect, since two peaches were the only fruit I had around! Didn’t brown the butter, but they were a big hit, and I’m sure you could substitute almost any fruit for the peaches. Bookmarking this as a go-to emergency recipe!

The flavor and simplicity of these bars ceases to amaze me! They came out so perfectly the first time, that I decided to make them a second time to share at work… only the second time I couldn’t find ripe peaches anywhere (and impatience got the best of me so I spent forty minutes trying to peel peaches that were solid as a rock, only to get fed up and toss them all…) then I threw them together anyway using one lonely peach that had actually ripened… only to later realize that I never added the egg to the batter! That whole debacle aside, these bars are awesome and next time I decide to make them I’m definitely going to plan ahead on the peach-front, and make sure I add ALL of the ingredients too. Deh.

Heheheh, make your own peach jam. That vaguely reminds me of the time I was viewing a recipe for lord knows what and the first instruction was, I kid you not…make your own chocolate from cocoa berries. Needless to say I looked away and never looked back.

Love this recipe. I made it the other day for my host family in Moldova using the fresh peaches from their tree and they had never had anything like it. My host mom bragged to the neighbors and wants me to translate it into Romanian so she can make it after I return to the US. Thanks for all your great recipes :)

This did not turn out the best for me. I hope it’s an altitude thing as we live in Colorado at about 6500 feet. There was no color to the top after 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Still no color after 35 minutes. I finally took it out of the oven at 40 minutes with just a hint of color. The bottom cookie was quite hard and crumbly. The good news is that it tasted fantastic. Served it with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream. The grandchildren cleaned their plates. We’ll try this again and take it out after 30 minutes no matter what the color of the top unless someone has a better idea.

Made this today, amazing!! I even forgot the sugar(kiddo up at 5:30 a.m for the day) took it back out of the oven it had been in for 5 min. scraped peaches off, put all back in a bowl mixed in sugar and put it back together with fingers crossed! Turned out wonderful, totally easy especially if you follow directions correctly. LOVE it!

I made this today because I had an excess of peaches. It tastes amazing. I love the note about brown butter amidst slightly savoury shortbread. The only problem was that I think I kneaded my dough too much so the top surface doesn’t look as sharp and crumbly as yours.

My question is about burnt butter: how brown is it supposed to be? Mine looked like Guinness, replete with creamy foam. Also, are you supposed to take out the milk-solids or do those stay? The solidified butter looked like solidified honey, and all the coffee-ground like milk-solids had settled at the bottom. My first thought was to shave that part off and dispose it (b/c of health concerns about burnt food) but I couldn’t do it as it smelt too good. [My browning process: I browned mine in a saucepan on medium heat, making sure not to smoke the butter. I simmered (or whatever the equivalent term for oils is) it until there the surface was covered with froth. I ladled out butter to check its colour. I’m not sure if I browned it too much].

These became my go-to party dessert last year (I make them year-round using jam in the off-season). Made them again last night for a family gathering, everyone raved. Thanks so much for the fabulous recipe!

How would you modify this recipe to use fresh cranberries? Would you cut the cranberries in half and partially cook them on the stove with some sugar and fresh orange juice or would you coat them in superfine sugar and not cook them?

As this is peach country, I may try these out on my first B&B customers. Big problem for me is as a diabetic, testing my recipes with almost everything has terrible results. After making a year’s supply of peach sauce for French toast from the local peaches, testing out a savory watermelon salad on friends, not to mention having to stray from vegan diet to test out egg dishes, and creating a great chorizo, I spent the last two weeks with my blood sugar out the roof and I in a blood-sugar stupor (purgatory–bored and tired out). Peaches are low on the glycemic index, so fortunately I can eat one now and then, but all that sugary stuff–poison. Anyway thanks for this, I will try it out (kids are coming over for my bday this weekend, maybe I’ll test this on them).

Deb – I’ve made dozens of your recipes. I generally love all of them. But this one was amazing and I may have a new favorite way to use up my peaches. I went peach picking in western Virginia and came back with 50 pounds of peaches for a household of 2. Needless to say, peaches have been present in every meal over the last 2 weeks, and this one is outstanding. I doubled the recipe using a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment, and I heated up some peach butter (also your recipe) to glaze the peaches before laying the streusel on top. Absolutely delightful.

A quick search of the comments turns up no results for “bacon,” so I guess I’m the first to do that particular modification! I mixed about 3 TB finely chopped, cooked bacon into the shortbread along with the browned butter. TOTAL HIT. My boyfriend could not stop eating them and they have disappeared from my office kitchen faster than any other treat I’ve ever brought in. Huge hit!

I made these two years when you first put up this post, and again today. I first time they were not as successful. They were pretty thin, if I remember, perhaps my pan was too big? Well this time I definitely had the right pan, but I also used even more of the flour mixture in the base (maybe a little less than 20%) left for the top, and cut the amount of peach down a little (about 1 1/2) I also let the butter brown a little more and I also left them in the oven for a little longer. Anyway, this time they were great. Moral: use the right pan.

Made these tonight with ripe Ontario peaches and they are delicious! I did find them to be a bit on the sweet side (even though I added a bit of lemon zest to the flour mixture) and next time I’ll cut the sugar down to 3/4 or 2/3 of a cup. Looking forward to trying them with rhubarb and sour cherries next summer. Thanks, Deb!

made these tonight but like other commenters would increase the peaches. maybe it’s just me? wondering what a higher peach:crust ratio would do? that said, they turned out GREAT. i’m now regretting making them today for an event tomorrow night and wondering if they’ll last….

I just wanted to let anyone know that I made these a few days ago, and I just now realized that I only used one stick of butter! They tasted absolutely phenomenal! So if anyone wants to cut back on the butter, it’s safe to do so!

Accidentally made this without the egg, and it still turned out well. I added a tbsp of water after browning the butter like one commenter suggested and doubled the amount of peaches, which I’m really glad I did because it’s nice and peachy. I also used 2 tbsp of flax meal in place of 2 tbsp of the flour. The base is a little crunchy without the egg but the entire thing is still super delicious.

I accidentally used salted butter instead of unsalted, and so it turned out saltier than expected! (I added the 1/8 tsp of salt too.) Fortunately the extra burst of salt went well with the extra peach I slipped in. Thanks for all the peach recipes! I’ve been eating them on everything for weeks now.

I made these yesterday and they are delicious! I was even super lazy and didn’t brown the butter, and these were still everything I had hoped. I do think that next time I will use more peaches. Mine were on the small side, and so the peach to shortbread ratio is slightly off. Otherwise, amazing!

Made these yesterday. Turned out wonderful. I agree with some other people in that I’d like maybe a little more peach. I was also lazy/didn’t want to spend the time browning the butter and they were still great. Awesome, easy one both recipe if you skip browning!

In the process of making it right now. Accidentally burnt the butter a bit and skipped the step to put the sugar flower mix below the peaches, making it essentially an upside down shortcake :/ hopefully it will produce wonderful results. Will post a finished product after done.

I bought some pecan pumpkin butter and want to make cookie bars with it but not using the store’s recipe that calls for cake mix. I am thinking about using the pumpkin butter instead of fresh peaches in this recipe. Do you think this would work?

I made a 1/2 recipe of pumpkin bars adapting your shortbread recipe for the cookie base. I used melted brown butter in the bottom layer (too impatient to chill it first) and softened butter in the crumb topping. The resulting bars were delicious. I froze some of the bars; they might have been a little softer after thawing but they were still good. Thanks for providing a good recipe that inspired me to bake pumpkin butter bars without the cake mix that was specified in the original store recipe.

Not sure if anyone reads down this far but I just made this with two cups of thinly sliced fresh rhubarb (mixed with some sugar and lemon) and it turned out GREAT. And for the record, when I make this with peaches, I double the number of peaches.

Hi Deb!!
Just wondering– berries would work here, right? If not using fresh berries, would it be okay to throw in frozen ones into the batter as is? (and maybe add a little corn starch?) Also, if using berries, would you suggest omitting the cinnamon and nutmeg, or would cinnamon still work? Please advise. Thank you so much!!

sky — I’m not positive that berries will work as well, because of the wetness. This is a cook with a very thin layer of peaches on baked on top … berries won’t work the same way here. You might want to try berries with these oat crisp bars.

Super easy and delish!!! Definitely do the browned butter step. I was wishing I’d used more peaches but wondered if they would get soggy. Possibly, except for the fact that these puppies didn’t stick around long enough to even think about it.
I’ll try that in the next batch (this afternoon perhaps?).

Heaven! Pure heaven! You were right about the brown butter. I had also lost brown butter flavor in other baked goods previously but thought that maybe my butter wasn’t browned enough. This recipe is extremely delicious and oh so easy.

Made these for a coworker’s birthday and got lots of compliments. Which is kind of ironic, because I somehow managed to forget the egg and didn’t realize it until after they had been in the oven for about 15 minutes. So, of course I was worried that they would just fall apart (since you mentioned that the recipe was crumbly to begin with), but they actually held up (and sliced) surprisingly well. Slightly different texture, but still very tasty!

I bought a cook book from our local Cracker Barrel and this recipe was featured in it. I usually do not comment on things but I must admit that these are absolutely DELICIOUS!!! I will definitely be making these again and again.

I look forward to making these every (usually with nectarines) – they are a summer favorite here. I was going to make them for an upcoming party, but have now been assigned an appetizer for pre-dinner hanging out. What do you think of this recipe with less sugar and the addition of fresh rosemary or sage in the shortbread part? Maybe blue cheese in the top crumble? Am I nuts?

^No need to answer my question now because…I DID IT!!!! :D After a few days of debating exactly what to do, I gave it a go last night/this morning. Gotta say, it is a winner. Thanks for all the great recipes and inspiration, Deb!

I love this recipe, but have found the need to adapt a little for our tastes. We use an 11×14 pan, sub 1/2 whole wheat flour and 4-5 peaches instead. The crumble on top is always a little dry (prob b/c of ww flour), so I add 2 Tbsp melted butter before sprinkling on top. The larger pan makes it a thinner shortbread and more peach flavour. Have made it many times always a winner with kids and adults alike.

I just made these and they were a HUGE hit with the family. I loved the delicately spiced shortbread. I am pretty sure that I will use more peaches next time, because, the more the merrier, right??? If they are ripe/firm, I would think that they won’t impact the shortbread.

I made these late last night and of course they were delicious. But what really had me fall in love with this recipe was how amazing it smelled when I was cutting the brown butter into the flour mixture. I was almost swooning it smelled so incredible. Thank you for this recipe. And for the Strawberry Summer Cake, which I also made late last night and was also scrumptious.

I’ve made these twice now. Seriously so amazing. I’ve never used browned butter and it was just that extra something that made them perfect. Also, the egg didn’t add any real stickiness. There’s so much other stuff. I just dumped it and the frozen butter and used my hands to rub it into itself. Then squeezed the mixture together when I wanted crumbs for the top. Amazing.

I made these yesterday, and although they were nice, I will change how I made them next time. I followed the recipe precisely, except I didn’t have time to brown the butter, and I had a few too many peaches so there was one thinly sliced layer and then another half layer scattered over that. The extra peach produced more juice and the bars turned out a lot soggier than the blueberry version of this recipe (which I have made a lot with blueberries and raspberries). I think next time I would be more decisive and add more fruit, but also toss the peaches in a little cornflour, as the blueberry recipe does. I would also allow the extra time to brown the butter, and add a little more of it too. I might also add some ground almonds into the cookie base crumble too as it would have gone great with the peach flavour. I should say my family loved this peach bar more than I did, and I suspect that browning the butter as Deb’s recipe does would have lifted the flavour of the finished bars. Still lovely though!

The first time I made these I found them way too sweet – even after reducing the sugar by a third – and not enough peach flavor. I tried them again, with thicker peach slices (and some tart blackberries from the yard), reduced the sugar even further and subbed some honey (I have a hive), so it was about 1/4 c white sugar, 2 tbs brown sugar and 3 tbs honey, and actually took the time to brown the butter, and found them much more flavorful! I like the idea of a summer fruit dessert to take to a party, without dealing with the mess of pie, and this fits the bill, as long as I can taste the fruit!

These were tasty. I took the time to brown the butter and I think that it really made a difference. They were quite sweet, though. I would try decreasing the sugar a bit next time.

I didn’t have enough butter so I halved the recipe. The shortbread dough was very crumbly – still floury, I would say. Not sure if that was the right consistency or not. But they seemed to bake up fine. Mine were definitely darker than the recipe, I think because of the butter…

I love peaches. They are one of my favorite things in the whole world. I also love shortbread. I plan on making them this weekend with some fresh peaches I have sitting on my kitchen counter right now. My question is could you make these delights with frozen peaches in the dead of winter?

I had raspberries galore, so I swapped out the peaches. Raspberries demand almonds, so I swapped out 1 cup of flour for 1 cup of almond meal (Trader Joe’s). I added 1/2 tsp of almond extract to seal the deal.

I can highly reccomend to put a lot! of fruit on this shortbread base. I went as far as putting 1kg of stone fruits (which is 35 oz) on it. The result is just amazing as the crust doesn’t turns soggy at all, but you end up with a still crisp bottom and a puddle of fruit on top. And of course some crumble to hold everything together. I added 2 tsp maizena with the fruit and 25g sugar to help the moisture to turn into some kind of sauce. It never failed me and everybody loves it. My most favorite combination is plums and raspberries.

I think you made one error on this recipe – you failed to indicate that it makes only one serving. I know this must be true because the taste of this shortbread is so divine that I feel compelled to eat the whole pan in one sitting. I won’t, but I totally could… what an amazing recipe!! Thank you!

Made these today. Once it all finally came together, it was delicious! I would slice the peaches a little thicker, maybe a half inch; I was hoping for more peach flavor. But I love shortbread, and that this is not terribly sweet. My friends kept bringing them up, “Seriously, those are SO. GOOD.” They think I’m a great baker from one recipe!
I would not call this exactly easy. If you’ve also never browned butter, budget a good amount of time for yourself, or brown it and bake at another time. I expected to whip this up in an hour, but it took half the afternoon. Now that I’m more familiar with this brown butter thing, it’ll go faster next time, but fair warning to other beginners. It’s worth the effort!

These look scrumptious!
The recipe says to butter or spray the bottom of the pan.
The photo looks like the bottom of the pan might have parchment paper also.
Is this an either / or choice?
Many thanks!

First time commenting…these are baking in my oven right now! From across the country (WA) – I can’t count the number of recipes I’ve made after seeing you post them (usually within 24 hours). My family and coworkers love you!

Hi Deb,
Just making this now. I’m a bit confused as once I added the egg it made a dough rather than crumbs. I’ve found it too sticky to press into the tray, so have stuck it in the fridge for a bit. When I’ve made shortbread or crumble in the past I never add egg and it stays “crumby”. Any idea what might have gone wrong? Thanks!

Once again you described and photographed this perfectly … Light, melty in my mouth with a hint of peach perfection. In an attempt to “do ahead” I browned my butter and froze until I could get back to it later . I’m guessing the 30 minute freeze time is so that it cools enough to work with but not rock hard like mine was. No problem as I was able to thaw a bit and then chop into smaller pieces. The worst mistake I made was in doing the half recipe… Won’t happen again!

happy news! overnight in the fridge solidified the butter and made them much more bar-like. so, eggless P above, it is possible to make them without egg. not sure I’d recommend it, but they will come together overnight. in summer heat they will probably crumble apart again after a while, but straight from the fridge they are prefect!

also, i made a half-batch and used a small, medium, and large peach, so more peach is definitely an option. i actually can’t imagine it with less.

These peach bars were easy to make and very good. I followed the directions exactly and probably sliced my peaches 1/8 inch thick. My only change to make for next time is more peaches…either I’ll cut them a full 1/4 inch or maybe keep them thin and layer them a bit or chop and spread. I wanted more peach and I wish it would have broken down a tiny bit, like peach filling. But I guess that’s impossible without adding the sugar etc.

Made this tonight, and it’s great. The crumble is perfect. I think I was a little too thin on the peach slices. I might to with the 1/4 inch slice next time for a stronger peach flavor. The peach is definitely there but subtle.

These are fantastic! I have made the similar blueberry bars, and found them lacking a little flavor. The tweaks in this recipe make all the difference! I did add a little extra salt and used salted butter, since I like salty shortbread. I put them together in the morning, refrigerated them, then baked them off that evening. So easy. I’ll definitely be making these again!

What a simple, easy and amazing treat!! I just pulled them out of the oven and couldn’t wait so I sliced a corner piece. Wow…. Not sure we’ll have any left to freeze this time but definitely need to make a batch for freezing, so I can have an easy snack to send to school. (Snack, treat… we’re not going to argue about that now, right?).
Awesome!

I’ll never make shortbread *without* browned butter again — what a difference. I thoroughly chilled the dough and then grated it into the pan to lighten the texture and give it a little height. Since I live alone, I have to have someone in mind ahead of time to share them with and get them out of the house within a day or I’ll eat the whole pan.

Mmmmm, I might have made this twice in this week alone. To be fair: I shared the first batch with coworkers so I only had one small piece to myself. Second batch has been alllllllll mine. :) Delicious recipes, as always! I love Smitten Kitchen!!

Hi Deb,
I want to make this for a work picnic. There are 40 people and I was planning to double the recipe. Would it work as is, or should I make any adjustments? Also, do you think it would work if I baked it in a sheet pan (half sheet)?
Thanks much!

Wow! I have never browned butter for baking before. I spent more than an hour anxiously googling trying to figure out if I somehow screwed this up because it did not freeze until nearly 2 hours went by. But, it finally did, perfectly, and the smell was so good before I even combined the dough. I love your recipes. I feel like I just learned a new secret magic trick! Thank you!

Deb, I know you’re not a gluten free baker, but wondered about your opinion about subbing GF flour + a little almond flour for the AP flour here. I’ve done it successfully with your blueberry bars (they’re more crumbly than normal, but taste good) and with an upside down cake recipe I have, but have never tried it with shortbread. I’m willing to take a risk, but can’t bear for our homegrown peaches (so many but so tiny–we can’t bear to thin them–peach death!) do go to waste if it’s a fail.

I have made these for the past two summers. I end up with tons of peaches and get tired of making jam and pies. I just use regular butter. I can’t use cinnamon either because someone in my family is allergic. They still taste amazing! Everyone loves them. Perfect with just the nutmeg (though I really would love it with cinnamon). I use a ton more peaches than it says to really cover it (easily 4-5). I have to use all my peaches that we picked.

OH MY!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! I just made these!! They were soooooo good! Not too sweet but so yummy. I did not brown the butter (didnt have time) they were still delish!! I love all your recipes!

Deb – LOVE peaches, LOVE a bar, and LOVE a crumble! I hadn’t ever made short bread before. Was surprised at how dry the flour mixture was going into the pan. I cooked it 35 min vs 30 – hoping for some extra golden. I think next time I’d lessen the sugar, increase the peaches and stick to the 30 minute timeframe. Definitely wouldn’t change a thing about the brown butter – really comes through in the flavor, and even 12 hours after baking its all softened up a bit from the peach. Can’t wait to make again, bring to a party!

Thank you for this fantastic recipe. Our little peach tree is loaded this year so I’ve been trying all sorts of peach recipes and these shortbreads are the best. I made them for coffee at our Italian class and they were described as squisito.
Thanks again,
Connecticut farmgirl

Thank you for this fantastic recipe. Our little peach tree is loaded this year so I’ve been trying all sorts of peach recipes and these shortbreads are the best. I made them for coffee at our Italian class and they were described as squisito.
Thanks again,
Connecticut farmgirl